Who was Marjorie Finlay, Taylor Swift’s opera singer grandmother? This relative, who bore a striking resemblance to the pop star, achieved stardom in Puerto Rico, hosting a TV show and lending her vocals to one of Swift’s songs.
Marjorie Finlay is Taylor Swift’s maternal grandmother. She married Robert Finlay, Taylor’s maternal grandfather, in Palm Beach, Florida, in 1952, as reported by People magazine. Marjorie and Robert Finlay welcomed Swift’s mother, Andrea, in 1958.
Marjorie Finlay was an opera star in Puerto Rico, showcasing the musical talent that runs in the Swift family. According to the English-language Latino site Mitú, Marjorie Finlay was a highly skilled opera singer with classical training, traveling with orchestras across Latin America. A 1952 newspaper clipping from the St. Louis Globe-Democrat revealed that Finlay attended Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri, and was a member of a sorority.
The same newspaper snippet mentioned that Swift’s grandmother had her own TV show in Puerto Rico. It stated, “In San Juan [Puerto Rico], where the Finlays now live, [Marjorie Finlay] has had her own TV programme, does concert, opera and supper club singing.” According to the source, Finlay entered television in 1960, “when an American girl who spoke broken Spanish was needed for a Pan-American bilingual show aimed at bringing better understanding throughout the Americas through their music.”
Taylor Swift incorporated her grandmother’s vocals into the Eras Tour.
According to Buzzfeed, Taylor Swift left many fans in tears when she released her song “Marjorie,” inspired by her late grandmother. She even incorporated the vocals of her former opera star grandmother into the track. Swift explained, “My mom found a bunch of her old records of her singing opera, and I sent them to Aaron [Dessner] and he added them to the song.” She added, “It says, ‘If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were singing to me now,’ and then you hear her, you hear Marjorie actually sing.”
Buzzfeed further reports that Swift became emotional and broke down in tears while performing the poignant song during her Eras Tour in Arizona back in March.
While Swift’s grandmother undoubtedly enjoyed some fame as an opera singer before her death in 2003 at the age of 74, it’s evident that she wasn’t nearly as famous as her multi-Grammy award-winning granddaughter. However, she would surely be proud of Taylor Swift’s incredible achievements and milestones to date.
Unfortunately, according to Buzzfeed, Finlay wasn’t able to witness her granddaughter’s rise to superstardom as she passed away a year before Swift signed to her first record label at the age of 14. Nevertheless, her legacy lives on in Swift’s empowering music and lyrics
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